Rose Maddox - $35 And A Dream

$35 And A Dream

By  Rose Maddox

Very Good Condition

A Review:

It is remarkable that Rose, who spent so much of her career singing up-tempo music, should remain in such good voice at such an age. Her voice has mellowed a little but is still quite strong. She did not have to limit herself to ballads to conceal limitations as some singers in their sixties and seventies are forced to do, although the wilder excesses are gone.

This set of recordings was made to support her touring, necessary to survive because all Rose's money from her earlier work had been spent on medical bills following a heart attack - so it's just as well that she was still in good voice. Because of her reputation, Rose was able to call upon some of the best musicians around including Herb Pederson, John Jorgenson, Jay Dee Maness, Byron Berline, Bill Bryson and Steve Duncan.

While some of the songs are covers, by no means all of them are. David Price wrote three songs for the album, these being the title track, Blood stained hands and Tonight I'm on stage. Carl Kaye contributed Cajun lady. Rick Cunha, who sings harmony on some tracks, contributed The place where love comes from.

Merle Haggard wrote and sang harmony on Dusty memories. Rose also covered Merle's obscure I wonder where I'll find you at tonight. These two songs were recorded some years earlier and feature different musicians.

The covers are well chosen. When Rose sang with her brothers, one of the songs they did was Fried Potatoes. They never recorded it officially, though they included it in a radio broadcast. From a tape of that broadcast, Rose and the musicians learned to do it again for this album. The other covers include traditional songs, plus two songs written by Buck Owens and one by Johnny Bond.

For the most part, these are songs that Rose had not previously recorded. If you are a fan of Rose's music from whatever part of her career, give this a listen. It may not be the best album she recorded, but it is not far behind her best - that makes it far better than I ever expected it to be.

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